The present invention generally relates to paint barrier protectors (sometimes referred to as drip barriers), and more specifically to new and improved paint barrier protectors for stairs.
There are a variety of paint barrier protectors. Perhaps the most commonly known and used are drop cloths. A conventional drop cloth typically consists of a large cloth that is laid over a floor, stairs, or a piece of furniture while a room is being painted, and is typically made from one of three different materials, i.e., canvas, paper, and plastic. Drop clothes made from each of these three materials provide differing benefits when used. Generally paper and plastic drop cloths are disposable, single-use apparatus, and are the least absorbent in comparison to canvas drop cloths. Canvas drop cloths are reuseable, and are the most absorbent of the three materials, but must be cleaned periodically and thus require maintenance.
Such drop cloths have common deficiencies. For one, they require what seems an inordinate amount of time to setup for use when preparing a room for painting. They similarly seem to require an inordinate amount of time to reposition during painting, and an inordinate amount of time to remove and fold up when the painting is finished. Typical drop cloths used today also do not have rigid straight edges, which is desirable for placing the drop cloths against walls and trim board. Typical drop cloths also are somewhat dangerous in that, when stepped upon, they are prone to slipping on hardwood floor, tile floors, and other flooring.
One or more embodiments of the present invention (but not necessarily all embodiments) address one or more of these aforementioned disadvantages of conventional drop cloths in common use.